Moving WebWord: Free Stuff and Web Usability

Free Stuff and Web Usability

Everyone loves free stuff. Capitalize on this and you can make your site more user-centered. It can also drive up sales, profits, and user satisfaction.

On the Web, freebies are a way of life. If you have free products to give away, you can build traffic. If your users can download software from your site, you can build traffic. If you offer free information, such as hot tips and interesting news, you can build traffic.

Good free stuff on your site can substantially increase site traffic.

Before you rush off and start adding free stuff to your site, however, please reflect on what you are doing. If the information you offer is free, but it is lame, it has very little value. In fact, if you promote free stuff that stinks, you will hurt yourself. What you offer, whether it is free or not, has a direct impact on your image and your branding. If you can't offer good free stuff, don't offer it at all. Instead, point to a site that does have good free stuff, such as Free2Try. If you want to point to shareware or freeware, you can point to places like Jumbo!, download.com, and TUCOWS.

Users love free stuff, and it is a very good idea to give it to them when it is appropriate. Offers and links to free stuff can add excellent content to your site. But, remember this one important caveat: The free stuff must add value to your users experience.

Let's look at an example. If I offered you free beer or wine for a year, you would probably like the offer. However, if I offered you free dirty socks for a year, you would probably not like the offer. There is another level of this to consider. Even if I could offer you something like free beer or wine, does it really make sense given the nature of my Web site? That is, WebWord.com is all about usability for the Internet. Offering free beer and wine, while very interesting, probably doesn't add the right kind of value to my site and doesn't really improve your experience here.

So again, it is important to determine what your users want for free. One easy way to determine what they want for free is to determine what users want from your site in the first place. For example, for WebWord.com, I know that you (my users) are here for Web usability information. So, to augment your experience, I could provide you with free usability software. I haven't found any decent programs, but if I find any, I'll be sure to add them to the site for you.

Perhaps some things are good to offer for free no matter what. If I offered you a chance for free JellyBelly jelly beans, you might jump at the offer. (Note: You can get a free sample of their jelly beans by being one of the first 600 users to their site on any given day, and of course you'll need to fill out a brief survey.) Then again, while it might be true that some free things are always "cool", they don't really add value to your content. In this case, the jelly beans probably won't add much to your WebWord.com experience.

Always think about why your users are at your site. When possible, gather data about them; find out what they want. Listen to them closely.

User Privacy and Freestuff

One issue that has been overlooked is that most users work on what I'll call a "freestuff-privacy continuum". Users will trade their privacy for freestuff. Some are willing to trade very little privacy but they are willing to get very little free. On the other hand, some people will virtually give away all of their privacy for free stuff. Consider the recent case of Free-pc.com. This company offers you a chance for a free computer and free Internet access. However, and this is important, you are bombed with ads and you have to give up quite a bit of personal information. In some respects, they own your online life. So, you might be able to get a lot for free, but you trade away your identity. In my opinion, this is not a trivial matter.

Some users will jump at the chance for anything free, despite the cost. They do not value their private information. But, private information is often more important than money because it can be used to target users better. It also defines who you are. Obviously, this information is a marketing gold mine.

Please remember, your personal information is a commodity and it has great value. The general rule of thumb is that the better the free item or service, the more personal information you'll need to give up to get it. Keep this in mind about your users as well. You never know what private information they are willing to trade for your "free" good and services.

Let's summarize the article:

1) People want free stuff, so give it to them when it is reasonable. But, be aware that what you offer reflects on you, your site, your company, and your image.

2) Good freestuff on your site will increase traffic. However, only offer free stuff when it adds value to your users' experience with your Web site. If it doesn't relate to your site, don't offer it.

3) Users are willing to trade information about themselves for free stuff. However, it can be difficult to know where they fall on the freestuff-privacy continuum. As a heuristic, I suggest asking for as little information as possible while offering the greatest value. This places the balance of power in favor of your users.

Feel free to visit my Freestuff page. I openly admit that it violates many things I talk about in this article, but I'm using it as an experiment. I'll share the data with you in a future article.

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